If I wanted my dreary and monotonous life to continue, I would have grabbed the obvious yellow flag, or avoided stepping in front of your car altogether. I was shaking my head at you not because you almost hit me, but because you didn't. Better luck next time, I hope.

Every time I see those things I shake my head. As a pedestrian, I take it upon myself to only cross when traffic is a) not present, or b) stopped for me.

And I still see people grab those things and treat them like they're incredible car-stopping force fields, for all the care they give the multi-thousand pound semi-guided missiles careening down the street.

I'm curious if you would wave that flag in Mexico or Costa Rica. The truth is that people in those countries don't give a shit about peds. I was always told that you should be aware of cars and not the other way around.